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CNN Saturday Morning News
Wildfires Scorch Western U.S.
Aired August 18, 2001 - 07:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the wildfires raging in the West. High winds and lightning are starting new fires and making it difficult for crews to gain control, that's according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And flames have already scorched more than half-a-million acres across several states in the last week.
The worst fires are burning in Oregon and Washington. The governor of Washington describes the situation as "really exploding." As winds fan flames near the popular tourist town of Leavenworth, hundreds of homes are being threatened by the wildfire and scores of homes have already been evacuated.
The military is now being deployed to help fight the flames. Two battalions of Marines and Army troops are being trained to help the more than 22,000 beleaguered firefighters on the frontlines.
Some communities are taking steps to fight the fires even before they start. CNN's Lilian Kim looks at efforts to build a fire buffer near one Washington town.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LILIAN KIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Crews are hard at work pruning limbs up to 15 feet high, giving this forest a whole new look without cutting down any trees.
MAYOR DAVID GERTH, ROSLYN, WASHINGTON: I like a forest that's just raw, natural, you know, but I'm getting used to it.
KIM: Nestled in the Cascade Mountains, Roslyn is taking a major step toward fire protection, clearing the underbrush and trimming the trees around the entire town. It's a method becoming popular in other cities across the U.S., designed to prevent the spread of fires while keeping the forest intact.
(on camera): The ultimate goal here isn't to prevent forest fires, it's to make them more manageable when they do happen, keeping the flames close to the ground, where fire crews still have a fighting chance at containing them.
MATT EBERLEIN, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES: If a fire starts on the ground, it's going to go up. All the heat goes up. So by limbing trees up to that height, we can eliminate that problem to some extent. KIM (voice-over): The cost to prune and clear the brush around this city alone totals $100,000, paid for by the federal government. People here hope it's money well spent.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Hopefully it'll work. I mean, that's -- we don't know if it's going to work or not. That's the next question.
KIM: If it does work, the town, like the trees, will remain standing. Thanks to these crews, mulch is the only thing coming down.
Lilian Kim, CNN, Roslyn, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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